Laura Fulmine, a London-based interior stylist and design consultant and have just finished a project in a cafe in East London called Tina We Salute You and emailed us to share some details and photos. “The installation was to coincide with London Design Week. It was only supposed to stay for one week however, it has proved so popular, the lovely people at Tina’s have agreed to keep it on for one more week! I wanted to do something small this year for Design Week and so approached this great cafe in East London who use their cafe as a part gallery, allowing artists to display their work for 6 weeks at a time. Instead of using the walls as a gallery I chose to do an interiors project and so painted all the cafe in South African wall murals.” The colours and patterns are so much fun. I love how this turned out Laura! Thanks for giving us a peek!

We received a request for help recently from Oksana: “I’m struggling in decorating living area in my townhouse. Basically, my living room is a loft type/open space with the kitchen area at the end. I have a sofa (contemporary) and would like to buy a chair (or chairs) or something else that will provide more seating space, look interesting, and feel comfortable. I’d appreciate any ideas and suggestions.” Photos of Oksana’s space are below, and my suggestions are after the jump.

I would suggest something low and not too big to keep the open feel of the room. Here are a few I love from Ikea and DWR (click the photo to find out more):

Consider checking eBay or thrift shops like Jo and I love to do because you can find some great stuff for CHEAP! Here are 2 chairs Jo found recently on eBay (I think) that I think would be perfect:

If anyone has any suggestions for Oksana please leave a comment!

Federica recently sent us photos of her home in Italy so we could share them with our readers. It’s beautiful with plenty of windows letting in natural light and was designed by her father Bruno Pogliani. Thank you Federica!

London-based interior stylist Twig Hutchinson has created some of the most memorable spaces that I’ve come across since Jo and I started this blog. The last photo (after the jump) has been a favourite of mine for ages and I thought it deserved a second posting. Twig emailed us to let us know she has updated her website so go have a peek. In the meantime, below are some magical and beautifully styled spaces that we haven’t blogged before. So lovely!!! (Oh – I HAD to add the last photo. Guess why. 🙂 )

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so it takes center stage rather than your pet. (Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture that you want to show off…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. If it’s dark or fuzzy (from a camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks! (Photos, your name, location and a brief description can be sent to desiretoinspirekim@hotmail.comand PLEASE don’t send me closeups of your pet!)

“Danny is our Aussie Shepherd X who shares my passion for bright colours and gorgeous (if not slightly over the top) furniture.  He loves our turquoise sofa just as much as I do!”
– Agata (Hamilton, On)

“Lily thinks she is the Queen of England and just loves to sit on her Ercol Evergreen throne where she can survey her kingdom. It’s a hard life!”
– Cat and Matt (London, England)

“This is our Spoodle Maggie chilling out on our Ikea floral chair and leather lounge. She really doesn’t have that much to be sad about (it’s all for the camera).”
– D&J

“Here’s my year-old kitty Yoni on ‘his’ sofa – you can see ‘his’ tree in the background, and his attempts to destroy the sofa (a hand-me-down from my parents) on the left. I made the cushions myself and the wool cloud rug (which he loves) is by Donna Wilson. Also a bonus photo of when he was smaller and used to hang out on the fireplace mantel.”
– Katie

“We have four cats and each one has its favorite place in the house, like Clarita “on the safe highlands” and Biancchino in the drawer. But sometimes some of them get together for a nap in our vintage armchair.”
– Maristela (Brazil)
  

“First photo is Bodhi, on one of two Ikea sofa’s in the living room. He sleeps like this often. The other photo is Oliver the cat and Bodhi’s sister, Brinkley, later in the day on the same sofa. I, of course, was on the other sofa, so they had to share. You’ve featured Brinkley before, sprawled out on the coffee table.”
– Beverly (Houston TX)

“This is Gus, our 3 year old Portuguese Water Dog, loves to lay on our bed.  He feels like a king when I let him on the bed. I only do this when my husband is out of town! He is the best pet ever -so sweet and lovable.”
– Melanie

“This is Sullivan and his chair. Almost 3 and shares his birthday with Brittany Spears!”
– Andy (NYC)

“I bought a school desk to replace my London Tier phone book table. It just didn’t “tie the room together” This is Yap-Yap, my Maine Coon/Siamese mix in her new napping place. So much for a phone sitting there.”
– Gina (Portland, OR)

“‘Moss’ chilling out on the bean bag”
– Hilary (Brisbane, Australia)

“Puck on chair.”
– Jackson

“vivi is my 15-year-old persian. needless to say that she sleeps 24h a day.”
– Christiana (Brasilia, Brazil)